Italian media praised Weston McKennie following Juventus‘ 2-1 win over Cagliari, while his compatriot Yunus Musah was one of Milan‘s most disappointing players against Lecce.
The American midfielders were like chalk and cheese in their latest Serie A appearances over the weekend.
McKennie contributed to Juventus’ 2-1 victory in Turin and was rated 6.5/10 by all Italian sports papers, resulting in one of the best players on the pitch.
McKennie started as a central midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation and moved to the right flank when Hans Nicolussi Caviglia was introduced from the bench as a central midfielder in the game’s final minutes.
Even Max Allegri praised McKennie after the final whistle:
“Wes is having a good season, I think he is maturing too after the experience on loan. I spoke to him too, he has physical strength that helps cover for a few technical errors, but when running into space, he can be devastating,” said the Old Lady’s boss.
“I told him at the start of the season that this was a very important year for him, he would be a wing-back and so he had to run back and forth. He put himself at our disposal.”
Musah, on the other hand, was highly disappointing in Milan’s 2-2 draw against Lecce.
The 20-year-old replaced the injured Davide Calabria during the break, playing as a right-back, but Stefano Pioli’s decision didn’t pay off, and it’s one of the reasons why Italian sports papers are criticising the Italian tactician.
Musah struggled defensively and his direct opponent, Lameck Banda, scored the equaliser at minute 70 after Musah had lost possession in the build-up.
The USMNT international was the worst player for Gazzetta and Tuttosport. The Italian sports papers rated Musah 4.5/10 and 4/10, respectively.
The Turin-based paper was pretty harsh on the ex-Valencia man, with journalist Francesco Romano writing that Musah ‘Didn’t do a thing right.’
Gazzetta wrote that Musah ‘collapsed’ as a right-back and had a ‘bad game’ at the Stadio Via Del Mare.
Musah was rated 5/10 by Il Corriere dello Sport and only Rade Krunic (4.5) had a lower rating among Milan players.